Smoked Turkey Legs
Turkey legs are a fantastic various to a complete turkey for dinner—particularly should you’re serving a smaller group this yr. Turkey legs are less complicated to arrange and prepare dinner extra shortly than a complete chicken. The darkish meat of turkey legs is of course extra flavorful and juicier, plus shopping for turkey legs is cheaper, which could be a nice budget-friendly choice.
Final yr I made Turkey Breast, and it was the primary time I had ever used a brine. So, I believed I’d strive it once more since I used to be the discuss of the Thanksgiving desk final yr. (It was the preferred weblog of 2023!) Though I did make a slight modification.
This time round I brined the turkey legs with much less salt. I submerged the legs in water, 1/4 cup of Huge Tom’s Turkey Roasting Rub and Brine, and 1/4 cup of salt in a single day. In whole the legs brined for about 18 hours give or take. Final yr, I actually appreciated Huge Tom’s Turkey Roasting Rub and Brine from Sauce Goddess, so I believed I’d use it once more this yr. This rub is a scrumptious, low sodium mix excellent for poultry, combining rosemary, marjoram, and thyme with an array of different spices. It’s superior!
After brining, I arrange my Webber Kettle for smoking and I added cherry wood chunks to generate the smoker taste. Cherry has a pure affinity with poultry, however you can use any hardwood you have got available. I eliminated the legs from the brine, rinsed the legs off, patted them dry, and utilized extra of the Huge Tom’s rub.
Steven’s recipe requires the smoker temperature to be round 225 – 250 levels. I at all times have a tough time holding my Weber that low, so I ended up smoking the legs round 300 -320 levels. The inner temp for the turkey legs must be 170-175 levels and my legs got here as much as that temperature a lot sooner than I anticipated. I used to be anticipating about 3 to 4 hours and as a substitute it was about 2. Most likely due to the upper temperature.
The consequence was wonderful! The good-looking bronze colour, the aromatic wooden smoke, and superior ham-turkey taste! The meat might have come out a bit extra tender at a decrease temperature, however we devoured the excessive warmth model with gusto.
Utilizing Big Tom’s Turkey Roasting Rub is just one in all my go-to’s on the subject of turkey. Climate it’s legs, wings, or the entire chicken, and I extremely advocate that you just give it a strive.
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